DS-CDMA is recognised as one of the foremost mobile radio access techniques today. However, to date, there has been scant information on the system implementation and the many problems facing radio engineers. In this contribution, the design of the downlink (base to mobile) for a wideband (8.192Mchips/sec) DS-CDMA air interface is described along with practical results gained from its successful implementation in a full DS-CDMA system demonstrator developed under the U.K. DTI/EPSRC LINK programme. The aim is to provide a practical insight into CDMA and its application as a candidate for future personal communication systems. Synchronisation was one of the major challenges with the downlink and the techniques developed as part of this work are described fully.